Friday, January 22, 2016

Concealed handgun permit holders are responsible for at least 849 deaths not involving self defense since 2007, including 29 mass shootings that killed 139 people, ongoing research from the Violence Policy Center (VPC) finds. Since there is no comprehensive recordkeeping of fatal incidents perpetrated by concealed carry permit holders, this tally most likely represents a small fraction of the actual total.

Details on these fatal incidents can be found on Concealed Carry Killers (concealedcarrykillers.org), an online resource that provides examples of non-self defense killings involving private citizens with permits to carry concealed handguns in public. Information on these incidents is organized by state.

But statistically, it's more likely that someone with a concealed carry permit will set out to commit mass murder than prevent it.

Analysis by the Violence Policy Center has found that at least 29 mass shootings since 2007 were carried out by perpetrators with concealed carry permits. That's more than three times the number of concealed permit holders whoprevented mass shootings through their swift action. And it's not as though those heroes (and they are heroes) are truly stemming the tide of non-sensical gun deaths in the U.S.: A Washington Post analysis of Federal Bureau of Investigation and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data found that, for every "justifiable" gun homicide in 2012, there were 34 criminal gun homicides, 78 gun suicides, and at least two accidental gun deaths. Similarly, a 2014 study from the University of California–San Francisco found that people who owned a gun were three times as likely to kill themselves as non-firearm owners; by comparison, the annual per capita risk of death during a home invasion is 0.0000002 percent. Hell,even toddlers killed more people than terrorists in 2015. Guns are used far more often for killing than for self-defense, despite the fact that some 63 percent of Americans think guns make them safer.

A well-armed citizenry rarely makes an impact on mass shootings. According to 2014 FBI data, only seven of the 160 of the mass shootings that took place between 2000 and 2013 ended because of some would-be Rambo came to the rescue, according to the Huffington Post—but there was only one true exception (emphasis ours):

More than half (56 percent) were terminated by the shooter who either took his or her own life, simply stopped shooting or fled the scene. Another 26 percent ended in the traditional Hollywood-like fashion with the shooter and law enforcement personnel exchanging gunfire and in nearly all of those situations the shooter ended up either wounded or dead. In 13 percent of the shooting situations, the shooter was successfully disarmed and restrained by unarmed civilians, and in 3 percent of the incidents the shooter was confronted by armed civilians, of whom four were on-duty security guards and one person was just your average "good guy" who happened to be carrying a gun.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Lenio is charged with felony intimidation after he posted threats on Twitter saying he was going to kill Jewish leaders and “execute grade school children,” adding, “I bet I’d take out at least a whole classroom and score 30-plus if I put my mind to it.”

According to a human rights group and two local rabbis, reducing charges to anything less than a felony would allow him to purchase and own more guns under current law.

Lenio, a restaurant cook, was arrested in February of last year after his roommate said that he had moved guns and ammunition into their apartment. He first came to the attention of authorities when Jonathan Hutson, who was a spokesman for the Brady Campaign at the time, alerted them to the online threats.

Initially jailed with bail set at $500,000, Lenio has since been released on his own recognizance and into the custody of his parents in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

President Obama rolled out a package of executive actions on guns this week. The changes included clarifying rules meant to broaden the use of background checks by private sellers, allocating money for mental health treatment, and adding more staff at the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to help enforce existing regulations.

The changes were modest in scope -- experts and even the NRA agreed that their overall impact would be small. That didn't stop Obama's critics from fiercely denouncing the proposals. But the president predicted the public would be on his side. The actions would be supported by an "overwhelming majority of the American people, including gun owners," he said Monday.

As it turns out, he was right.

A new CNN-ORC survey of 1,000 Americans finds that the public supports Obama's plan by a 2-to-1 ratio: 67 percent of respondents favored the executive actions, while 32 percent opposed them. Even more striking, a similar share of people in gun-owning households -- 63 percent -- supported the measures.

Even more striking: 51 percent of Republicans support Obama's executive action on guns. When's the last time 51 percent of Republicans agreed with Obama on anything?

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Bearing Arms for our readers who have blinders on and think every expansion of gun rights is good for their side. The real damage of course, is that open carry is seen by non-gun owners for just what it is, the stuff of fanatics and 2nd Amendment extremists.

We tried to tell open carry advocates in Texas that their tactics of open carrying long guns into restaurants, stores, and other establishments were causing problems, not winning converts. The major open carry groups in the state eventually backed off what many in the general public saw as an intimidation tactic, and a lesser version of open carry finally became law despite their antics.

In a post on TexasCHLForum.com, a popular gun rights website moderated by National Rifle Association board member Charles L. Cotton, one user reported that the new law has triggered private business owners to not only exercise their right to bar open carry on their premises, but prohibit concealed handguns as well. Any private business in Texas that wishes to bar firearms must display a strictly regulated sign — dubbed “30.07” for openly carried guns, and “30.06” for concealed firearms. Amid the controversy over open carry, this gun owner was noticing more of both varieties.

“Got an email from work telling us that not only are 30.07 signs going up over the weekend on our office building but 30.06 as well. What makes this even more frustrating is I have yet to see a single open carry,” wrote a user with the handle LTUME1978, before predicting in a subsequent comment that, at least in Houston, “Once the signs are up, they are not ever going to come down.”

Monday, January 18, 2016

Despite his earlier criticism of Ammon Bundy taking over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in support of imprisoned Dwight and Steven Hammond, the founder of the anti-government militia group Oath Keepers warned federal authorities to tread lightly unless they want a “civil war” on their hands.

Writing on the Oath Keepers’ website, Stewart Rhodes warned ominously that “there will never again be a free Waco,” and that the Obama Administration risks “starting a conflagration so great, it cannot be stopped, leading to a bloody, brutal civil war.”

Rhodes had previously stated that the Oath Keepers — made of members who claim to have served in the military and law enforcement — would stand down and not participate in the occupation of the wildlife refuge.

While the situation in Oregon has remained calm — outside of one member beingarrested on Friday for driving a federal vehicle to the grocery store — Rhodes’ saber-rattling was, in typical Oath Keeper fashion, over the top.

Under the heading: “Warning to U.S. Military and Federal LEOs: Do Not Follow Orders to ‘Waco’ Ammon Bundy Occupation, or Risk Civil War,” Rhodes was blunt — although wordy in the process.

“This situation (Oregon occupation) must not be handled in a military or paramilitary fashion, using military assets, military rules of engagement, or otherwise attempting to end it suddenly by use of dynamic assault, resulting in catastrophic loss of life, as has occurred twice in recent American history, with horrific results (at Ruby Ridge in 1992, and at Waco Texas in 1993),” he wrote. ” If you do it ‘Waco’ style here, you risk pushing this nation over the edge into a civil war, because there are ‘no more free Wacos.’”

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among teens and young adults.

On average, 4 American teenagers commit suicide every day.

Many teens attempt suicide on impulse and there is rarely a second chance when a gun is used.

Suicide attempts with a gun are deadly over 85% of the time.

Suicide attempts with drugs or methods other than guns have a greater chance of survival.

Most young survivors of a serious suicide attempt do not commit suicide later, and most survivors of suicide attempts are glad they were saved.

Studies have shown that the risk of suicide is 4 to 10 times higher in homes with guns than in those without a gun. If the gun is a handgun or is stored loaded or unlocked, the risk of suicide is even higher.

Here are five steps we can take together to save over 1,000 young lives a year!

It is best to NOT have any guns in homes where children or teenagers live, however, if there is a gun:

1) Keep it unloaded and locked up or with a trigger lock. Store the bullets in a different place that is also locked.

2) Do not let teens have a key to the places where guns and bullets are stored.

3) If a teen becomes depressed or has severe mood swings, store the gun outside the home for the time being while you seek help!

4) Make certain to share this information with your neighbors, family, and friends. We need to all work together to protect our children!

5) States where there are more guns have a higher rate of suicide. Be sure to work with your state legislators to strengthen gun safety legislation!

Please share this email with your family and friends because TOGETHER, we can make a difference!